Hello Everyone,
Going to the Daral Uloom Islamic Center today for their open house was quite an experience. It will take me awhile to gather my thoughts so for now I'll just report on what I saw.
Daral Uloom is roughly translated as Place of Scholars or something similar although there was some discussion regarding this.
The congregation is made up of Somalis. A prayer service in Somali was concluding as the open house began. There were between 100 and 200 people taking part in it plus an unknown number of women downstairs. It had something to do with the upcoming start of Ramadan this weekend. I don't know how often they have services like this but if this is typical attendance, the neighborhood is going to have major parking problems.
The building is basically empty. There were a few chairs set up for some of the older visitors but otherwise everyone sits on the floor. I found out that's a lot harder than kneeling. There was a good meal provided but again, sitting on the floor to eat isn't as easy as used to be. Standard practice is to remove shows and leave them in the vestibule. I did it but they weren't enforcing that today for visitors. They were also lax on dress codes for visiting women.
The altar rail is gone. Does anyone know if it actually went to St. Matthews as planned?
A red and white carpet has been installed in the old altar area, which they now call a stage and from which they lead their prayer services.
The rest of the building's floor is covered with many very large area rugs. Eventually the entire floor will be carpeted.
As far as I could tell all of the religious stained glass windows in the sacristies have been removed.
The big stained glass windows are still there but the circular inserts in five of them showing the chalice, monstrance, Sacred Heart, pierced heart of Mary(?) and the harp in the choir loft have been replaced with plain panels. The wheat and grape inserts are still in place. There is a debate over whether there are crosses in some parts of the windows. If so, those will also be removed.
The wall that was ruined by leaking water has been fixed. That area plus the areas behind the confessionals and the two side altars have been painted. The whole interior will be repainted someday.
Except for the chandelier over the altar which was replaced by one with white globes, the other lights are still in place.
I didn't go in the basement. That's for the women and girls. That is their prayer space. The men and boys get the main floor.
Most of the males were in casual dress. Long sleeve shirts are the norm. They dress better than the typical Catholic at Mass but not as well as Lutherans or Baptists. Only a few men wore long robes or anything on their heads. I think they were all Imans. The women and girls, who were only allowed in the basement, vestibule and outside, were covered from head to toe.
No changes yet regarding the sign over the door or the keystone block.
No changes on the exterior of the school. They will be using it eventually but don't have any specific plans yet.
Ralph McDonough was the only other former parishioner from St. John's that was in attendance. Kathy Lantry was there for awhile, as were some ministers from a few local Protestant churches. I think there was also a priest, possibly from Sacred Heart, but I'm not sure. The local East Team St. Paul Police commander, a couple of other officers, and maybe a dozen other neighborhood people were also at the open house.
A reporter and photographer from the Catholic Spirit showed up later. There should be an article in next week's issue. I ended up talking to them quite a bit. There might also be a photo or two. I made it quite clear that I thought St. John's should have never been closed. I doubt they'll include that.
Reminder: There is supposed to be a story in this week's East Side Review about the new owners. However I just checked its website and couldn't find it. It may have been bumped by stories about the flood, a murder on Payne Ave. and the body found in the woods. It was a rough week for the East Side.
There is also supposed to be a story in this Sunday's St. Paul Pioneer Press.
That's it for now. I'll get back to you all later concerning some of my other observations and thoughts.
Greg